Boiler feed apparatus



Aug. 4, 1931. E. s. HALL 1,817,189

BOILER FEED APPARATUS Filed March 2, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 4,193 1. s, LL 1,817,189

BOILER FEED APPARATUS F'iled March 2. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j 52 an :D56 37 55 lllilll 4 M Patented Aug. 4, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEEDWIN SHERMAN HALL, OF ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIGNoR TO STERLINGENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, or HYDE PARK, MASSA-CHUSE'ITS, A CORPORATION OF 'MAssAOHUsE'r'rs BOILER APPARATUSApplication filed March 2,

This invention relates to a boiler feed apparatus, and has for itsobject to provide an automatic apparatus for returning condensationWater from steam heating systems of various types to the boiler.

The apparatus embodies therein a closed container located above theboiler into which the condensation water from the various heatingsystems or appliances is drained, together with a water feeding devicehaving a definite pumping capacity and also located above the boiler butbelow the container, the said feeder receiving the water from the con-Miner and feeding it to the boiler.

Another object of the invention is to increase the efliciency of anapparatus of this type by providing a permanent water seal in thecontainer by so aranging the discharge pipe leading from the containerto the water feeder that the water within the container will never fallbelow a predetermined level, and the steam that is employed inequalizing the pressure between the water feeder and boiler is ventedfrom the water feeder into the container within the water seal, therebyquickly condensing the steam and at the same time increasing thetemperature of the condensation within the container.

The invention consists in an apparatus as set forth in the followingspecification and particularly as pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

v Figure l is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention,together with a portion of a boiler to which the apparatus is connected,a portion of the container of the apparatus being broken away and shownin section.

Fig. '2 is an enlarged sectional view through the steam inlet valve. 7

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the steam vent valve.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged front elevation of a portion of the valveactuating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

F ig. 6 is a view illustrating how the apparatus of this invention maybe employed in 1928. Serial No. 258,652.

pumping water to a Water supply tank for the boiler.

Like numerals refer to like parts through out the several views of thedrawings.

In the drawings, B represents a boiler of any type, C s a closedcontainer and F is a stationary water feeder. The container G is locateda suitable distance above the boiler B and the feeder F is located abovethe boiler but below the container. The container (1 may have one ormore condensation pipes 1 connected thereto through which thecondensation from a steam system may drain into the container. Thecondensation pipes are each provided with a check valve 2, and thecontainer is provided with an automatic air relief valve 3 and apressure relief valve a.

The feeder F has a pipe 5 connected thereto upon the lower side thereof,said pipe being connected by a T '6 with branch pipes 7 and 8, the pipe7 being connected to the container C entering said container through theunder side and projecting upwardly a suitable distance into the interiorthereof where an open end 9 of said pipe establishes a low water level10 Or water seal below which th water cannot fall.

A check valve 11 provided for the pipe 7 permits the water from thecontainer C to flow in the direction of the arrow a and prevents saidwater from flowing inanopposite direction. The pipe 8 connects the T (5with the boiler B, preferably being connected to the blow-Off or at anyother accessible point below the water line of the boiler, andconstitutes a discharge pipe through which the water is fed from thefeeder F. The pipe 8 has a check valve 12 therein which permits thewater from the feeder 'io flow to the boiler, but prevents said water orthe steam from the boiler to back up through said pipe.

The feeder F is connected by means of a steam pipe 13 with the steamchamber of the boiler, there being a steam valve 14 mounted at the topof the feeder and controlling the passage of steam through said pipeinto the being a vent valve 16 mounted at the top of 1.

the feeder and controlling the passage of seal. ,A vent opening 18 isprovided in that portion of the pipe 15 that is located within thecontainer G near the top of the latter and said opening forms a means ofcommunication between the pipe 15 and the interior of the containerabove the water seal. A check valve 19 is provided for the pipe 15permitting steam to pass through said pipe from the feeder to thecontainer but preventing said steam from passing in a reverse direction.

The feeder F is well known in the art and is similar in construction toa device disclosed in Letters Patent No. 1,841,027 dated May 25, 1920,to which reference may be had if desired. Briefly described, however,the feeder F together with the valves 14 and 16 and their actuatingmechanism, are as follows Located within the feeder F is a float 20which is mounted upon the end of a float arm 21, in turn mounted uponand fast to a rock shaft 22. The steam valve 14 illustrated in sectionin Fig. 2 is mounted at the top of the feeder F andembodies therein avalve casing 23 having a valve chamber 24 therein which communicatesthrough a port 25 with the interior of the feeder. The passage of steamfrom the boiler through the steam pipe 13 is controlled by a movablevalve member 26 which is connected by a valve stem 27 to an actuatinglever 28 pivotally mounted at 29 upon a post 80. A. guide 31 is providedfor the lever 28. d

When the steam valve 14 is closed as illustrated in Fig. 2, the water ofcondensation will flow from the container C through the pipe 7, 'l' 6and pipe 5 int-o the feeder F, thus 9 gradually filling it, and as itfills, the float 20 will rise. When the float reaches a predeterminedposition, the steam valve is opened by means of an operating mechanismhereinaftertobe described, which is operatively connected with the float8, thus admitting the steam pressure of the boiler to the feeder andthereby equalizing the pressure between the boiler and feeder, and thefeeder being located above the boiler, the water within the feederinfluenced by the natural law of gravitation, will cause said water toflow into the boiler. As the water is discharged from the feeder, thefloat 20 descends and when it reaches its lowermost position, the steamvalve 14 is again closed, thus permitting the feeder to be again filled.with water.

The vent valve 16 which is located upon the top of the feeder beside thesteam valve 14 and which is operated by the same mechanism that operatessaid steam valve embodies therein a valve casing 82, having a chamber 33which communicates through a port 34 with the interior of the feeder F.In venting the steam from within the feeder to the container C, thepassage of steam through the valve 16 is controlled by a movable valvemember 35 having a valve stem 36 which is connected at its upper end toan actuating lever 37, said lever being pivoted at 38 to a post 39. Aguide 40 is provided for the lever 37.

Connected at their upper extremities to the I actuating levers 28 and 37are connecting rods 41 and 42 respectively, and said rods are connectedat their lower extremities to the arms 43 and 44 respectively of aT-shaped lever 45, the latter being pivotedat 46 to the exterior of thecasing of the feeder; Another arm 4701": the lever 45 is located betweentwo adjusting screws 48, carried by a rocker member 49 which is alsopivoted upon the stud which constitutes the pivot 46. The rocker arm 49has a stud-50 projecting forwardly therefrom on which is mounted asleeve 51, the outer end of the stud extending loosely through a slot 52in a head 53, see Figs. 4 and 5. The head 53 is provided with tworearwardly projecting arms 54 in which are mounted stop screws 55, thelatter being adapted to engage the sleeve 51. The stop screws 55 areadjusted in the arms 54 so that the space between them is somewhatgreater than the diameter of the sleeve 51. The head 53 is secured tothe end of a link 56, which is pivoted to an arm 57 rigidly fastened'tothe rock shaft 22. I V

The rocker 49 has rigidly secured thereto a cradle 58 in which a weight59 is mounted to roll, the rolling movement of the weight being limitedby two upwardly curved arms 60 at opposite ends of the cradle. In the various figures, the actuating mechanism for the Valves 14 and 16 1s shownin the position it occupies when the feeder F is empty, and

when in this position, the lever 45 is so placed that the steamvalve14'is closed, while the vent valve 16 is open. At this time thepressure between the interior of the feeder F and contamer C 1s equahzedand the contalner being located above the feeder, the water in whereuponthe actuating mechanism for the V valves 14 and 16 is operated toagainclose' the valve 16 and open the valve 14.

By discharging the steam through the vent connection from the feeder Fto the container C below the level of the water therein, the

heat of the steam is absorbed by the relatively cooler water. All oftheheat, therefore, from the exhaust steam is utilized and all of thecondensation from the steam is retained.

The general operation of the mechanism,

hereinbefore specifically described is as follows :Assuming that thevarious parts are positioned as illustrated in the various views of thedrawings, the feeder F is in a condition to receive water from thecontainer C. At this time the boiler pressure holds the check valve 12closed and the pressure being equal upon each side of the check valve11, the latter will open freely to allow the water from the container Cto flow by gravity into the feeder F. The pressure, tending to build upwithin the interior of the feeder F from the Water flowing into it, isequalized back into the container C by the vent pipe 15. As the waterflows into the body of the feeder, the float 20 rises, tilting thecradle 58 and when the interior of the feeder is filled, the cradle hasrocked to a position where the weight 59 rolls from the left hand sideof the cradle over to the right hand side thereof, thereby closing thevent valve 16 and opening the steam valve 14. The boiler pressure nowholds the check valve 11 closed and the pressure within the feeder andboiler being equalized through the pipe 13, feeder F, pipe 5, T 6 andpipe 8, the water within the feeder will flow by gravity into theboiler. As the water flows from the feeder to the boiler, the cradle 58will rock in an opposite direction to that previously described, andwhen the float 20 again reaches its lowermost position, the cradle willreach a position where the weight 59 will roll to the opposite side ofthe cradle, causing the steamvalve 14 to again close and the vent valve16 to again open.

By providing the vent opening 18 from the pipe 15 into the container Cabove the water seal therein, the action of feeding the water from thecontainer to the feeder is hastened for the reason that the pressurebetween the feeder and container is more quickly equalized and,furthermore, if the level of the water within the container C everreaches to the height of the opening 18, the latter will prevent saidwater from syphoning from the container back into the feeder through thepipe 15 if the check valve 19 is omitted from the apparatus, or if thecheck valve 19 should leak. Furthermore, as the apparatus of thisinvention is designed to feed Water at a certain definite orpredetermined capacity, if a syphoning action should be started throughthe vent pipe 15, which by necessity is much smaller than the regularfeed pipe 7, the apparatus would not maintain the capacity for which itis designed.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a modified embodiment of my invention inwhich the apparatus is employed for the purpose of pumping water into asupply tank from which it may be fed in any suitable manner to a boiler.

In this view, 61 represents a water supply tank from which the Water maybe fed to a boiler in any suitable manner through a pipe 62. The feederF is connected to the supply tank by a discharge pipe 63 in which acheck valve 64.- is located. The feeder F is also connected by means ofthe steam pipe 13 to the steam chamber of a boiler. In all otherrespects, the apparatus is exactly the same as previously described inconnection with Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive.

In this embodiment of the invention, the head of water in the pipe 63acts to normally hold the check valve Get closed, but when the steamvalve 14; is open, the pressure of steam from the boiler will force thewater from the feeder outwardly through the discharge pipe 63 into thesupply tank 61 until the float 20 reaches its lowermost position. Thesteam valve 14L will then close and the vent valve 16 will openequalizing the pressure between the feeder and container and allowingthe water from the container to again fill the feeder as previouslydescribed.

I claim:

1. In a boiler feed apparatus, the combination with a boiler of a closedcondensation container provided with a permanent water seal thereinhaving a fixed low water level, a water feeder having steam and waterconnections with both boiler and container, the steam connection betweenthe feeder and container discharging steam into the container below saidfixed low level of the water seal therein, valves for the steamconnections, a float within the feeder, and means operatively connectingsaid float and valves whereby the latter are actuated to control thepassage of steam from the boiler to the feeder and from the latter tothe container.

2. In a water feeding apparatus having a predetermined capacity, thecombination with a boiler of a condensation container located above theboiler and provided with a permanent water seal therein having a fixedlow water level, a stationary water feeder located above the boiler andbelow the container and having water connections with the boiler andcontainer, a steam connection between the boiler and feeder, a steamconnection between the feeder and container and discharging steam intothe container below the water seal therein, said last named steamconnection also being provided with a vent opening to the interior ofthe container above the water seal, whereby syphoning of the water fromthe container back into the feeder is prevented and the pumping capacityof the apparatus is maintained, valves for the steam connections, andmeans to operate said valves to control the passage of steam from theboiler to the feeder and from the latter to the container.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto 'set my hand.

EDWIN SHERMAN HALL.

